'Tis the Season with a Reason

At J and L we believe in Christmas and the reason behind it. This may not be politically correct but it is how we feel. Since the purpose of our blog is research, travel and exploration, we recently searched and found some celebrating the greater purpose for this wonderful time of year.

Del Rosa Christian School in San Bernardino, California put on the production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens at the Sturges Theatre in downtown San Bernardino on the 12th of December. It was a great production directed by Jessica Barr, the 6th grade teacher who planned, produced. and cajoled a large group students into performing this tale in a professional and well-packed venue.

These children did their best to do Dickens proud and succeed they did which brings this writer to the point about this season. The joy we saw on the faces of those young actors made us realize that this is really the time for giving to those we love. Parents. grandparents, uncles, aunts, and family friends were in that large audience in the middle of December and all attention was on the children on stage. Cameras snapped, video cameras whirred and cell phones flashed as these elementary school thespians went from scene to scene doing their very best to entertain the crowd but also to instill the message Dickens himself wrote down on paper.

It is the small things in life that make a difference. A smile at a stranger, a chuckle with a friend, forgiving those who have offended us and reaching across a sometimes cold surface with a hand to be accepted or not. This is what the great writer showed Scrooge and us with his prose.

It is a time of the year when we need to look inside ourselves and wonder how we can do better for those around us. We only have one chance at it.

Those children that night showed this writer they truly loved those in the audience because each and every heart on stage was bursting with enthusiasm and excitement to prove they could give their best for their family and friends.

And is not that the reason for the season?

Bravo children - bravo.